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Still shaking off the Asheville blues, Mobsters. It's a big ol' hang with 'em. Before we delve into A. Dalton – the NFL's newest king of Persia – two entirely pertinent Reds points. The first and most immediate:

Is A. Simon pitched out? If yes, then what?

He's 0-4 since the Break. Three bad starts, the latest last night. This Space said at the Break this would occur. Simon might be a big, strong guy, as BPrice suggested last month, but by the Break he'd already thrown more innings this year than he had in any one season, ever.

Last night in Cleveland, he didn't throw many strikes – 35, in 70 pitches -- and when he did, they were smashed. I didn't hear the Famer or Cowboy suggest his velocity was down, but Brantley did mention the snap was lacking on his curve. Simon is not a power guy in the Cueto, Bailey mold. He needs the breaking ball.

Cingrani would be the logical rotation replacement, but he's hurt. After that, there is no credible option. It's not as if Simon is pitching well early, then tiring. Last night he gave up a 3-run homer in the 4th. In three of his last four starts, Simon hasn't seen the 6th inning.

PERTINENT REDS POINT #2. . . Hindsight sees perfectly, and so what?

They should have traded Chappy over the winter, for a big bat.

Failing that, they should have moved him into the rotation, and traded another SP for a big bat.

I said it then, so I don't feel too bad saying it now. For a .500 team, a shutdown closer is a bauble. It's like a homeless person panhandling for a nice pair of shoes. Broxton has been a closer, he's having a very good year. Chapman's value as a starter would have been so far and above what it is as a closer, the two aren't in the same galaxy.

Instead, DBaker's insistence – with The Big Man's blessing – on having the security blanket in the bullpen has cost them, on the field and financially. You don't pay Brox $7 mil this year – and, gulp, $9 mil next – unless you think he's going to close.

Is there another 8th inning guy in this universe making that kind of swag?

BPrice said in March it's too late for the Reds to convert Chappy. It'd be interesting to see if they trade him, if the receiving team agrees. As it stands, their best arm is beholden to situations. Those would be 9th-inning, Reds ahead by 1,2 or 3 situations. That hasn't exactly been a regular occurrence this year.

Now, then. . .

IT'S YOUR BALL, A. DALTON… He gets a bunch of money early in the deal, the Bengals get an out if things don't progress smoothly. It was one of those rare deals where each side walked away content.

Dalton is quite possibly the most polarizing sports guy in town, now that DBaker is growing syrah grapes in NoCal. Which is interesting, given that Dalton is among the least outspoken major figures in Cincinnati sports in the last 30 years.

On this side, his impressive numbers: The 33 TDs, the playoff appearances his first three years etc.

On that side, his 4-8 record v. Pitt and the Ravens, his 0-3 postseason splotch.

The Bengals have done all they can to propel him past Round 1. Good players by the boatload, schemes built with him in mind, now lots of money. Now, it's Dalton's time to justify the faith.

Will he?

If he improves in a few areas, or if the team does.

Either Dalton needs to do better when the protection breaks down, or the protection needs to improve. The latter isn't likely, one because it's already very good and two, because the Bengals haven't added studs to the O-line, and likely will start a rookie center.

You could say Dalton, um, flinches in the spotlight games. Or, you could say the teams he faces in those games know how to get up in his face and force egregious decisions. Recall the playoff L to the Chargers, who trailed 10-7 at halftime, then unleashed the dogs in the second half.

If Dalton somehow finds a little Big Ben in him, The Men are very dangerous. Even if he cuts down on the disastrous INTs, they'll be better. Does lots of money have an impact on that?

It's hard to say whether it's even possiblefor Dalton to improve. Handling the pass rush could be an innate thing, or something you have to learn at the NCAA level before having any hope of doing so at NFL speed. We don't have enough data to provide examples of guys who struggled with blitzes at the beginning of their careers before rapidly improving, and anecdotal examples aren't coming to mind.

THE MORNING MAN GRIEVES… From my guy Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

What's unknown is how long McCutchen will be out. I'm not a doctor, but it looked as if he has a serious oblique injury. A player can miss a month — maybe more — with such an injury. The torso is that crucial to a hitter because of the torque necessary to swing a bat.

A month? You mean, now?

Three of the four players in the NL Central now have lost huge cogs… Votto, Molina and McCutchen. So, might as well repeat the refrain… injuries are an excuse, not a reason, for underachieving. Every team has 'em.

TUNE O' THE DAY. This one rollin' 'round my head this AM. Boz Scaggs is, by trade, a bluesman, but the album Silk Degrees was not. It was his most listenable effort, yielded a hit (It's Over) and this tune, a nice little bouncer to get your day moving.